Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday suggested that biofuel can be an effective replacement for petrol and diesel. “We import petrol/diesel worth Rs 8 lakh crore, petrol price is increasing, rupee value is falling vs dollar…I have been saying since 15 years that farmers and tribals can make biofuel and fly aircraft,” Gadkari was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. The Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways further said that new technology can run vehicles on ethanol made by farmers and tribals.

Gadkari made his comments in Chattisgarh’s Raipur where he laid the foundation stone and dedicate to the nation National Highway projects worth Rs 4,239 Cr. He also laid the foundation stone of 92 Km Raipur – Durg Bypass on NH 53, worth Rs 2,281 crore. While there’s big outcry regarding heightening fuel prices in the country, Gadkari’s statement comes in the backdrop of successful operation of India’s first test flight partially powered by biofuel last month. On August 27, SpiceJet successfully tested a concoction of biofuel mixed with aviation turbine fuel (ATF). The flight, which took off from Dehradun for Delhi, was received by Cabinet ministers and airline officials at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Terminal 2.